Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant said the State has no role in the decision of whether other passport holders (like Portuguese) are to be brought back or not in view of the COVID outbreak.
“I am not in a position to reply to the question as we have to go as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs,” the CM said.
As per reports, while there are 7,000 Goan seafarers who want to return to Goa, many of them hold Portuguese passports.
The Chief Minister also clarified that the State has not asked any seafarer to pay for quarantine facilities. “We have asked the agents and the ship owners to arrange paid quarantine facilities for the seafarers,” he said.
When pointed out that the seafarer on the vessels Karnika and Angriya are yet to disembark, Sawant said the agents have to complete some formalities. “The authorities have started formalities of medical tests and reports will be out soon,” he said.